On Sat, Apr 12, 2008 at 10:55:35PM +0100, James Courtier-Dutton wrote:
I think everyone is misunderstanding the issue here. All ALSA sound cards, without any intervention from user space, will boot up with ALL SOUND MUTED. Most distros then have an /etc/init.d startup script that restores sound card levels to the previous state before the previous power off. The problem is, what to do the first time the system is installed. I.e. No "previous state" exists. a) General users will normally want some level of sound by default the first time they boot into a newly installed system. b) Professional users want everything muted the first time. My personal preference is ALL SOUND MUTED in ALL cases.
Mine too.
I figure that if a user does not have sound, the first thing they will do is go to the volume control and turn it up! I do believe that a general user should only have to touch one "Master" volume control to do this "turn it up" step.
Most consumer distos do not agree with me and want the volume turned up already by default. The problem is deciding on a generally good level for these distros.
Fair point. Actually there is an easy workaround for those of us who prefer everything muted every time: remove or disable the init.d script.
John